Friedrich Biedermann studied sculpture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. His material is not the stone, but the light. His tools are not hammer and chisel, but materials and filters that change the light and the light source and thus create images of perception. The object at the interface in space is a central theme of his work. It is the object-oriented ontology of light that characterizes his work and that not only understands artificial and natural light as a sensory effect, but also focuses on the interface between manipulation and narration of objects. New technologies such as Human Centric Lighting are incorporated into his work and open up new possibilities and insights. For Friedrich Biedermann, light is therefore like an equation – the equating of sensation and interpretation.

Tweaking seemingly fixed ccordinates/ Christa Benzer 2017

It would be difficult not to notice that many of the works of Friedrich Biedermann are un-grounded in the most literal sense of the word: constellations of images attached to the ceiling, sculptures that seem to float in the air, electric fans playing back into space the images (e.g. stills from Blade Runner) projected onto them. Conversely, Biedermann has also shown a propensity for bringing down to earth objects that usually inhabit higher spheres: the moon, a satellite, the wing of an airplane. His moon, a permanent installation, now casts its light on the rooftops of Vienna. The airplane wing, another public space project, was first given a reflective coating and then mounted at an angle to ensure that the viewers can only see the reflection of the sky, not of themselves. Dissolvers (2015), another installation, refers to Plato’s cave allegory and the insight that concepts about the world are never fixed entities. This insight is central to Biedermann’s way of dealing with given taxonomies and coordinates, as can be illustrated with a work that might almost be overlooked: Triangle (2010-13, a piece composed of set squares, a tool whose use as an instrument for measuring the world goes back all the way to antiquity. In this artist’s hands, however, the set squares become part of sculpture-like oddities that may strike one as severely geometrical, but whose logic seems rather to derive from chaos theory than belong to the world of parallels and right angles.This idea that the world is nothing but an accumulation of subjective points of view and individual systems also informs the series Periodic System (2013-2015). One part of the installation consists of pictographic constellations covering the walls as well as the ceiling; on the other hand, there are sculptural elements such as plexiglas cases, slides and light tape, arranged by the artist in a way that calls to mind scientific textbook illustrations. In putting together these building blocks, Biedermann seems to have been guided by formal and aesthetic criteria: obviously this is less about combining structures, shapes and colors so as to achieve a pleasant effect than it is about making visible the faultlines and incompatibilities underlying the superficial similarities. It is precisely because the world is the sum of theoretical constructions that the subjective experience of space and time is absolutely indispensable. This also explains why light, this most immaterial of materials, plays such a crucial role in Biedermann’s work, which is as much concerned with the practical, atmospheric and philosophical aspects of light as with its potential health benefits. Displacer (2010), shown at the Shanghai EXPO, explores the three categories of space proposed by Henri Lefebvre: perceived, imagined and lived space. The sci-fi-inspired construction made of glass fiber cables also reflects the pavillon’s architecture, and in this it is typical of all of Biedermann’s designs and projects; for him, the site-specific givens constitute a space of representation and experience that helps shape the respective work of art. The light installation Memory Code (2012) at the geriatrics center Simmering is a perfect example of how the artist mines the most diverse properties of light. While the play of colors in the ecumenical room creates a soothing atmosphere beneficial to the patients‘ health, it also follows a clear concept. The rhythm of the light, based on movie scores, is meant to activate people’s personal memories. Biedermann‘s light-text-installations – dangling glass fiber constructions that ‚perform‘ words like Reason (2013) and Weightless (2015) or questions such as Why Time? (2016) – further testify to the artist’s endeavor to intensify the viewer’s perception.

The title Why Time? moreover points to Biedermann’s increased interest in the temporal dimension of light, one result of which is his recent work Light Path (2016), where spectators are invited to experience the ebb-and-flow of light during a 24 hour day compressed into the time-span of a single minute.